sugar dosing question

[redseaapples]

dosing with sugar certainly removes nitrates ...but it seems soft corals and sugar dont get along ...how long does the sugar stay in the water or do i need to change water to remove it ..

[disc1]

The whole point of carbon dosing is that bacteria consume the carbon source. So no, you don't need to remove it. However most have found that ethanol (vodka) or vinegar are far superior to sugar as the carbon source.

[tmz]

Sugar is often a problem for many corals ;probably due to by products occurring along the the complex pathways this carbohydrate follows; perhaps excess glucose. I used it years ago and the corals receded and some died. Vodka and/or vinegar are simpler compounds with a more direct path to acetate ,a substance useful to liiving things.

[bertoni]

I agree that sugar seems to cause more problems than other forms of organic carbon dosing, so I'd just try something else, if I ever needed to dose carbon.

[redseaapples]

as ive found sugar was a much more complicated solution than i thought ..been a week since last i put in ..fish unaffected (george) scorpion fish is happy alone but happy ..and the hammer coral is happy, thinking about it the hammer coral was out more and larger before the sugar dosing ..(about 4 weeks ive been doing it )...id like to put leather corals in this tank ..my favs ..but unwilling to risk any till im sure they will be ok ...when i get a nitrate reading again can i assume it has used up the sugar nutrients?

[oseymour]

I use 2 parts vinegar to 1 part vodka and it's working well for me.

My maintenance dose is 8ml per day on an overstocked 75 gallon tank that is fed heavy. Nitrates under 5 ppm.

[tmz]

can i assume it has used up the sugar nutrients?

Probably degraded after a week or so . I can't really say for sure. I'd probably run some fresh GAC .

[bertoni]

I'd guess that the sugar itself is gone relatively rapidly, possibly within a day or less, but any compounds produced as side effects might last longer. I agree that some fresh carbon might be a good idea.